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In 2019 it was announced that the Isle of Wight’s iconic 1938 Stock tube trains were to be withdrawn and replaced with a ‘new’ fleet of refurbished ex-London Underground trains, as part of a wider project to upgrade the Island’s ageing railway infrastructure. This book examines in detail the events that followed: the infrastructure works, the withdrawal and disposal of the old trains, and the development and introduction of their replacements – all of it carried out in the midst of a global pandemic. What went wrong, and what went right? What would happen to the 1938 Stock? And would the new trains even fit through Ryde Tunnel…? In writing this book the author has been able to draw upon unique insights provided by some of the key figures involved in the Island Line upgrade, as well as by the current owners of many of the withdrawn 1938 Stock units.
In 1945 Mike Jacobs visited the Isle of Wight for the first time and was captivated by the railway system, which he innocently believed at the time to be concentrated only at Ryde. Over the years, further visits followed, including trips on the Island line to Ventnor, Bembridge, Newport, and Yarmouth. Already addicted to the charm of the Island system, it was fortunate indeed when in 1954 the family moved to Ventnor, which was to cement his fascination with the railway system. Mike Jacobs' stories of railway life half a century ago and more, seen through the eyes of both a regular passenger and an enthusiast, are unique. Written with wonderful warmth of feeling, the reader is immediately taken back to a long-forgotten time and to a quaint way of life that has now all but disappeared. Fully illustrated with plenty of rare mono illustrations, this volume captures the ever-changing railway scene beautifully.
The story of one of the most iconic railway companies of the great age of steam.
As a vehicle to convey both the history of modern China and the complex forces still driving the nation’s economic success, rail has no equal. Railroads and the Transformation of China is the first comprehensive history, in any language, of railroad operation from the last decades of the Qing Empire to the present. China’s first fractured lines were built under semicolonial conditions by competing foreign investors. The national system that began taking shape in the 1910s suffered all the ills of the country at large: warlordism and Japanese invasion, Chinese partisan sabotage, the Great Leap Forward when lines suffered in the “battle for steel,” and the Cultural Revolution, during which Red Guards were granted free passage to “make revolution” across the country, nearly collapsing the system. Elisabeth Köll’s expansive study shows how railroads survived the rupture of the 1949 Communist revolution and became an enduring model of Chinese infrastructure expansion. The railroads persisted because they were exemplary bureaucratic institutions. Through detailed archival research and interviews, Köll builds case studies illuminating the strength of rail administration. Pragmatic management, combining central authority and local autonomy, sustained rail organizations amid shifting political and economic priorities. As Köll shows, rail provided a blueprint for the past forty years of ambitious, semipublic business development and remains an essential component of the PRC’s politically charged, technocratic economic model for China’s future.
A pictorial history of the rise, fall, and rebirth of the scenic railway in Cornwall, featuring never before published photos. In 1963 comic duo Flanders and Swann composed Slow Train—a lament for some of the many railway lines proposed for closure by Dr Beeching. Among the destinations listed in their song is the refrain “from St Erth to St Ives”. Constructed in 1877 as the last broad gauge line to be built in the UK, the St Ives branch did not close in the 1960s and survives to this day—now widely regarded as one of the most scenic railways in Europe. How did it escape closure, and how did it come to be built in the first place? Why did the war departments of the world have their eyes on St Ives in the years before the First World War? How did a town once renowned for the inescapable smell of fish become one of the most popular tourist resorts in the UK? Did the Great Western Railway invent the Cornish Riviera? Why was a heliport proposed for St Erth? Where did a thirty-two-ton ballast digger end-up in 2008? And how did two young men find themselves four miles from the nearest station in 1860. . . ? Containing over 100 images, mostly in colour and many never published before, this book sets out to answer these and many more questions. Praise for The St Ives Branch Line “A detailed, historical and photographic record of the line, from its very beginnings to the present day. . . . An excellent reference for anyone interested in Cornwall’s railways or scenic UK branch lines in general.” —Model Rail Magazine “If you are looking for a comprehensive and well-illustrated overview of the St Ives line throughout its life, this book will meet your requirements admirably.” —West Somerset Railway Association
It was the railway's Titanic. A horrific crash involving five trains in which 230 died and 246 were injured, it remains the worst disaster in the long history of Britain's rail network.The location was the isolated signal box at Quintinshill, on the Anglo-Scottish border near Gretna; the date, 22 May 1915. Amongst the dead and injured were women and children but most of the casualties were Scottish soldiers on their way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign. Territorials setting off for war on a distant battlefield were to die, not in battle, but on home soil victims, it was said, of serious incompetence and a shoddy regard for procedure in the signal box, resulting in two signalmen being sent to prison. Startling new evidence reveals that the failures which led to the disaster were far more complex and wide-reaching than signalling negligence. Using previously undisclosed documents, the authors have been able to access official records from the time and have uncovered ahighly shocking and controversial truth behind what actually happened at Quintinshill and the extraordinary attempts to hide the truth.As featured in Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine, January 2014.